The Railway Comes to Cleethorpes 1863 Part One

Post date: Feb 09, 2013 6:50:50 PM

The year 2013 will see local celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the coming of the railway to Cleethorpes.  Its arrival led to such major changes that Cleethorpes would never be the same again.  So what’s the story?

Initially, we should note that prior to the coming of the railway, Cleethorpes’ holiday visitors were mainly better-off middle-class people who could afford the time and money to come here.  They included clergymen (including the Bishop of Lincoln), members of the professional and business classes, and those who were of independent means (including Lord Alfred Tennyson’s uncle).  Journeys to the resort could be expensive and time-consuming.  Visitors would then spend a week, several weeks or the entire summer season at the resort.  Little was expected in the way of entertainment.  They were happy with the fresh sea air, views of the Humber and its shipping, boat trips, healthy walks, excursions into the nearby countryside, playing on the sand with their children, the occasional ball or concert and, for the hardy, sea bathing.

However, this would change with the coming of the railway, which should have come to the resort much earlier than it did.  In 1845, the newly-formed Great Grimsby and Sheffield Junction Railway intended to run a branch line from Grimsby to Cleethorpes.  But its intention was put on a back burner when  it amalgamated with other companies to create the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (the MSL).  The MSL came into legal existence on 1st January 1847 and set about completing the main line from Manchester to Grimsby.  The railway service in Grimsby opened to the public on 1st March 1848 and the main line from Manchester opened on 17th July the following year.

But even though the line did not reach Cleethorpes yet, travel to the resort became easier, quicker and cheaper.  Visitors would detrain at Grimsby and either walk on to Cleethorpes or take a horse-drawn omnibus.  And in addition to its timetabled trains, the railway company began to run special cheap day-excursions. 

For example, excursion trains to Grimsby brought an influx of 5,000 visitors to the resort on 19th June 1850.  And in the following year a local paper commented that: ‘The cheap trains begin to pour their shoals of bipeds to enjoy a ramble along the extensive sands of Cleethorpes’. 

Such was the increase in the number of visitors that the MSL

began to consider extending the line to Cleethorpes.  Accordingly, from 1854 onwards, several attempts were made to extend the line.  Negotiations were led by one of the most important figures in Cleethorpes’ history.  He was Sir Edward Watkin who was appointed General Manager of the MSL in 1854.  He had a forceful personality and was elected to the dominant position of Chairman of the MSL in 1864.  He became a major player in the national and international railway scene and was knighted in 1868.

However, despite Watkin’s efforts, negotiations to extend the line were initially frustrated by the stubborn opposition of local land owners, over whose land the branch line would have to run.  However, negotiations continued and in June 1860, a local paper reported that the line: ‘is to pass by the shores of the Humber, free from all obstructions hitherto preventing its progress’. 

In the meantime, Watkin had co-authored a report which stated that the estimated cost of a single line from Grimsby to Cleethorpes would be £10,000, or £12,000 with a terminal station.  The estimated cost of a double line with a larger station and a ‘Refreshment Room Hotel’ would be £18,000.

The report went on to say that:

We do not suppose that any traffic such as that of Scarborough will spring up at Cleethorpes but such is the want of an outlet for the manufacturing Districts of Sheffield and Nottingham, and even so far as Manchester, that we think with this branch made, Cleethorpes would soon supply such a want.

The MSL board approved the report and the proposed extension was included in a parliamentary bill.  The bill received the Royal Assent on 28th June 1861 and on 8th August the MSL directors gave sanction for a single line to be constructed.     

The line was opened on Easter Monday, 6th April 1863.  A local paper mentioned that on the day a very large number of excursion trains steamed into the resort from Manchester, Sheffield, Hull and other places.     

The extension of the line to Cleethorpes was to have a radical effect on the resort.  The resort was now directly connected with a vast visitor catchment area.  Namely, the industrial areas of  Lancashire, Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and other Midland counties. 

A result of this was that Cleethorpes began to attract a different type of visitor.  What were known as ‘factory operatives’ and their families began to arrive in droves and the ‘day tripper’ became a common visitor.  The longer-staying middle-class visitors began to drop away.  Thus the dominant social character of the resort visitor began to change from middle-class to working–class. 

In 1870, this change was commented on by a visiting clergyman:

I am here for a few days ... the shore is so crowded with shoals of operatives from Yorkshire and Lancashire districts, with their wives and children that I feel excluded from the hubbub.  This was, twenty years since, a nice quiet place: now it is a scene of bustle and distraction.  Every day, especially Sunday, excursion trains ... with loads of visitors.

More visitors brought increased trade and income for local businesses.  Many visitors enjoyed a ‘tipple’ so public houses were in demand.  This led to a certain amount of unruly behaviour and drunkenness.  On Good Friday 1872 it was commented that: ‘Drunkenness stalked the streets.  Men and women, boys and girls ... were drunken and sickened with drink’. 

On Good Friday, 1873, the hotels were full, the streets were almost impassable because of the crowds and the cliff and sands were ‘teeming with animation’.  The single railway line could not cope with the increasing number of trains.  So it was doubled, the work being completed on 25th May 1874.

Also the town itself began to grow.  Its population nearly doubled between 1851 and 1871, increasing from 839 to 1,768.  During the same period, the number of houses increased from 198 to 427.  This created problems with sanitation and public health, leading to the election of its first local government body in 1873 – the Cleethorpes Local Board of Health. 

Thus we begin to see the effect of the railway on the resort.  The social character of its visitors was changing, trade was increasing, population was growing and more houses were being built.  And the resort had acquired its first elected local authority.

But what did the future hold?  How did the MSL increase its involvement in the resort?  What part did its Chairman, Sir Edward Watkin, play in the advancement of Cleethorpes?  These questions will be addressed in Part 2.

(Please note: © Alan Dowling 2012.  Not to be reproduced in any format without permission of the copyright holder, Alan Dowling, who may be contacted on 01472 690655.  Previously published in the Cleethorpes Chronicle.)